Most of us, dear visitor to Jicky's second site, either already have or will soon have a kitten, probably a few months old. This small animal started its life between the paws of its mother, spending time playing with its own brothers and sisters. During all this time, it learnt from other adult cats the essential rules of feline behavior (in relation to nutrition, cleanliness, politeness, etc...)

Your sudden intervention at this stage into its life will fundamentally change its environment and the efforts needed to adapt to a new family will be more difficult for the cat than those you will have to make to accustom it to your daily life.

Provided its physical and psychic health is good, your kitten will behave like a small companion, both sociable and curious. As soon as the stress, due to the break-off from its feline family environment will have worn off (that can take as little as a few hours but can also carry on for some days), it will start exploring its new domain. It will also try to enter in contact with you, endeavouring to transfer onto you and onto your family circle its current requests. To achieve this, it will use all the techniques learnt during the previous weeks. It is then your responsibility to pay attention to each of its manifestations or requests, however small.

Your kitten will follow you, watch you in turn. I will try to understand and assimilate too what you are expecting from it. He will also speak to you, by the way, hoping that you will be able to understand as well as answer back. If the cat belongs to a "chatting" breed, like the Siamese, it will pester you with constant mewing, until satisfaction has been reached. But if it is a naturally silent cat, like most Chartreux, it will prefer to use sign language..

You should expect it to look out for you, often hidden behind a door, and surprise you by reaching for your legs. For then on, you would have taken over the role of brothers and sisters, earlier game companions from whom it was cruelly deprived. Playing make up the essential medium for learning in small mammals. Above all, do not deprive your cat from playing, this activity is absolutely necessary to its fulfilment. On the contrary, try to spend as much time (and more) as you can with it, making sure you answer every request your cat may have.

The more you contribute to its education, the more your companion will become clever, cooperative and affectionate. And this can last till adulthood has been reached.